Department for International Development

Overseas Aid

baroness hodgson of abinger: To ask Her Majesty's Government what progress the Department for International Development is making for the current financial year in meeting its target of spending 50per cent of its budget in fragile and conflict-affected states.

lord bates: DFID fully expects to spend at least 50% of its budget in fragile states and regions in the current financial year, as we have done every year since the commitment was made in 2015.

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government

Empty Property

lord bird: To ask Her Majesty's Government what action they are taking, or planning to take, to address the concentration of empty homes in low-value housing markets, with specific regard to the housing markets in (1) northern England, and (2) coastal communities.

lord bourne of aberystwyth: We continue to support local authorities to encourage efficient use of our existing stock, making best use of homes that have been empty long term. Local authorities have powers and incentives to tackle empty homes. Through the New Homes Bonus, they earn the same financial reward for bringing an empty home back into use as building a new one. The Ratings (Property in Common Occupation) and Council Tax (Empty Dwellings) Bill will permit a charge of up to 200 per cent of normal council tax on properties that have been empty for two years or more, instead of the current limit of 150 per cent. Great progress has been made in recent years and the number of empty homes stands at its lowest since records began. At May 2010, over 300,000 homes in England had been standing empty for longer than 6 months. As of October 2017, the number of long term empty properties had fallen to 205,293.

Home Office

Immigrants: Detainees

baroness cox: To ask Her Majesty's Government what percentage of people held in UK immigration detention centres for over one year have been subsequently removed from the UK since May 2017.

baroness williams of trafford: Information on the number of people leaving detention, by length of detention and reason is available in table dt_06_q (see below) of the detention tables in the latest release of ‘Immigration Statistics, year ending March 2018’, available from the GOV.uk website at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/709326/detention-mar-2018-tables.ods Table dt_06_qTable dt_06_q: People leaving detention by reason, sex, and length of detention   Back to contents   QuarterLength of detentionTotal DetaineesReturned from the  UKGranted leave to enter / remainBailed (Secretary of State)Bailed (Immigration Judge)Other2010 Q1*Total6,6754,209471,952395722010 Q2*Total6,1003,940341,683374692010 Q3*Total6,6844,326351,819420842010 Q4*Total6,5004,102251,891407752011 Q1*Total6,8884,326482,027415722011 Q2*Total6,3393,854491,915455662011 Q3*Total6,5964,085381,949462622011 Q4*Total7,3584,571402,197488622012 Q1*Total6,9044,275442,029500562012 Q2*Total7,0294,277292,187486502012 Q3*Total7,1884,278432,352460552012 Q4*Total7,4544,416362,423498812013 Q1*Total7,1024,169312,458383612013 Q2*Total7,6134,421272,666423762013 Q3*Total7,9334,131733,215450642013 Q4*Total7,3824,212832,592451442014 Q1*Total6,8643,985952,282450522014 Q2*Total6,8763,855932,413452632014 Q3*Total8,0393,957803,425524532014 Q4*Total7,8953,876863,155685932015 Q1*Total7,5233,762712,817787862015 Q2*Total8,1923,973643,274793882015 Q3*Total8,8993,568274,3248661142015 Q4*Total8,6123,803183,9157641122016 Q1*Total6,9443,314102,876660842016 Q2*Total7,6123,528243,189782892016 Q3*Total7,0423,205183,0386731082016 Q4*Total7,0793,42672,831722932017 Q1*Total7,1733,587212,772721722017 Q2*Total6,5683,154152,594738672017 Q3*Total6,9893,198812,3961,221932017 Q4*Total7,5143,234522,8011,3001272018 Q1*Total6,3583,067102,1131,07395



Table dt_06_q
(Excel SpreadSheet, 61.76 KB)

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

India: Religious Freedom

lord ahmed: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made ofthe concerns expressed by Archbishop of Delhi regarding minorities in India and the rise of extremist Hindutvasupporters.

lord ahmad of wimbledon: The British Government remains committed to promoting and defending freedom of religion or belief (FoRB) for individuals of all faiths or beliefs, in India and elsewhere. We shall continue to engage with Indian contacts on a range of human rights issues, including minority representatives on religious freedoms.The British High Commission in New Delhi and our network of Deputy High Commissions maintain an assessment of the human rights situation across India and run projects promoting minority rights, as well as working with Union and State Government to build capacity and share expertise.

Hong Kong: Politics and Government

lord ashdown of norton-sub-hamdon: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of (1) the number of the pro-democracy protesters and activists prosecuted under Hong Kong's public order ordinance since 2014, and (2) the compliance of the public order ordinance with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

lord ashdown of norton-sub-hamdon: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the conviction of Edward Leung on charges of rioting.

lord ahmad of wimbledon: In the most recent Six Monthly Report to Parliament, published on 15 March, the Foreign Secretary said “The rule of law and independence of the judiciary is the foundation on which Hong Kong’s success and prosperity is built. This reporting period has seen a large number of cases related to the political system come before Hong Kong’s courts… The judiciary in Hong Kong remains in high esteem. It will be vital that the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government is seen to use the system of justice fairly in all cases.”I note that Hong Kong’s current International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) review is expected to report in late summer, and that the previous review recommended that Hong Kong “should ensure that the implementation of the Public Order Ordinance is in conformity with the Covenant”.Individual cases regarding pro-democracy activists are a matter for the Hong Kong courts. However, the British Government has highlighted its hope that recent criminal proceedings do not discourage lawful protest, or discourage young people engaging in politics in the future. Hong Kong citizens are guaranteed the right to freedom of assembly and demonstration under the Joint Declaration and the Basic Law. As I set out to this House on 24 January, the British Government takes its commitment under the Joint Declaration very seriously.

Israel: Palestinians

the marquess of lothian: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they support the referral under article 14 of the Rome Statute, submitted by the government of the State of Palestine to the International Criminal Court, to move from a preliminary investigation to a full investigation regarding the situation in Palestine since 13 June 2014.

lord ahmad of wimbledon: ​We respect the independence of the International Criminal Court (ICC) Prosecutor, who will continue her preliminary Examination into the situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory in order to determine whether the criteria is met to open a full investigation. Genuine and thorough investigations, whether conducted domestically or by the ICC, are important to help deliver justice for victims of atrocity crimes.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Badgers

the marquess of lothian: To ask Her Majesty's Government what action they are taking to ensure the crime of badger baiting is ended.

lord gardiner of kimble: Badgers and their setts are protected under the Protection of Badgers Act 1992, which makes it illegal to kill, injure or take badgers or to interfere with a badger sett. Interference with a sett includes blocking tunnels or damaging the sett in any way. Badger persecution (including badger baiting) is one of the UK’s six wildlife crime priorities. Each UK wildlife crime priority has a delivery group responsible for taking forward actions to gather and share intelligence to inform enforcement activities.